Michael Shmerkin

Michael Shmerkin
Personal information
Country represented Israel
Born (1970-02-05) 5 February 1970
Odessa, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Height 1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Former coach Valentin Nikolayev, Galina Zmievskaya
Skating club Canada Centre, Metulla, ISR
Retired 2002

Michael "Misha" Shmerkin (born 5 February 1970) is an Israeli former competitive figure skater.[1] He is a two-time Skate Canada International silver medalist (1994 and 1995), 1993 Ondrej Nepela Memorial champion, and 1995 Skate Israel champion. He competed in the final segment at two Winter Olympics (1994, 1998), six World Championships, and four European Championships.

Career

Early in his career, Shmerkin competed internationally for the Soviet Union, most notably at the 1984 World Junior Championships, where he placed fifth.

Shmerkin moved with his family to Israel in 1991,[2] and Shmerkin began representing his new country in international competition.[3]

At the 1994 Winter Olympics, where he placed 16th, Shmerkin became the first skater to represent Israel at the Olympic Games.[3][4] He placed 18th at the 1998 Winter Olympics.

In the late 1990s he skated to Jewish songs and had a tallis and menorah embroidered on his costume.[2]

He retired from competitive skating following the 2001/2002 season.[4]

Shmerkin currently coaches in New York.[5]

Programs

Season Short program Free skating
2000–2002
[6][7]
  • Russian gypsy dance
  • Swing

Competitive highlights

GP: Champions Series (Grand Prix)

International[8]
Event 88–89
(URS)		 90–91
(URS)		 92–93
(ISR)		 93–94
(ISR)		 94–95
(ISR)		 95–96
(ISR)		 96–97
(ISR)		 97–98
(ISR)		 98–99
(ISR)		 99–00
(ISR)		 00–01
(ISR)		 01–02
(ISR)
Olympics 16th 18th
Worlds 19th 14th 11th 11th 15th 15th 35th 33rd
Europeans 14th 13th 19th 20th 25th
GP Nations Cup 6th 8th
GP NHK Trophy 10th
GP Skate Canada 2nd
Golden Spin 8th 5th
Moscow News 9th 2nd
Nations Cup 5th
Nepela Memorial 1st
NHK Trophy 5th
Piruetten 6th
Skate America 7th
Skate Canada 2nd
Skate Israel 1st 2nd 8th 3rd
National[8]
Israeli Champ. 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st

See also

References

  1. ↑ Inside figure skating — Google Books. Books.google.com. Retrieved 15 February 2011.
  2. 1 2 "Author Battling Antisemitism at the Ice Rink –". Forward.com. 3 October 2003. Retrieved 15 February 2011.
  3. 1 2 . 17 February 1994 http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=PI&s_site=philly&p_multi=PI&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB2A5C4B643758F&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  4. 1 2 "Jewish athletes in the Olympics — then and now | j. the Jewish news weekly of Northern California". Jweekly.com. 9 February 2006. Retrieved 15 February 2011.
  5. ↑ "Figure skating coaches". Aviator Sports & Events Center. Archived from the original on 25 April 2017.
  6. ↑ "Michael SHMERKIN: 2001/2002". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 21 October 2002.
  7. ↑ "Michael SHMERKIN: 2000/2001". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 17 April 2001.
  8. 1 2 "Michael SHMERKIN". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 26 April 2017.


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